readymoney 3 May 2009
I swam in Fowey this morning in a VERY cold sea – it was a point of principle (the sea was there, needed to be used and adored and there was a vague dare in the air) rather than a thing of beauty to behold. I refrained from screaming and/or swearing as there was a small boy on the beach. It was entirely bracing and I felt SO HEALTHY – but I really couldn’t stay in longer than a minute. The water was incredibly clear and the cove we swam in is (gloriously) called Readymoney Beach so there’ s not a lot to argue with there, it seems to me.
I grew up near a beach in the west of Ireland and we swam a lot. It’s a bit of a dream for me that one day I might live close to the sea again and near a mountain or two. I’d better start saving son for all of that. As a child, though, I remember the day we were all swimming and playing on our local beach and were intrigued by new shapes passing us in the water – on closer investigation it turned out to be untreated sewage – never felt the same way about my local after that.
